


forgive and forget

by wingedgrace



Series: i trust no one else 'verse [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Batfamily Angst, Batfamily Feels, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Jason Todd Is Trying His Best, Triggers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:14:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26342458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingedgrace/pseuds/wingedgrace
Summary: “Is something wrong?”“No.” Dick gave a nervous laugh. “It’s stupid, I – never mind.”“Don’t hang up,” Jason said quickly, alarm bells beginning to ring. “I’m sure it’s not stupid. What happened?”(In which Bruce is difficult, Jason is trying his best not to be possessed by blinding rage, and Dick makes a phone call.)
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Series: i trust no one else 'verse [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1819246
Comments: 34
Kudos: 359





	forgive and forget

**Author's Note:**

> So here I am again with another oneshot! As much as I like the ending of _i trust no one else_ , I keep coming up with ideas on where I might have taken the story if I’d decided to continue. So uh here you go, enjoy :)

Jason was at his kitchen table cleaning his guns when his phone began to ring.

He wasn’t expecting any calls, so this was either a telemarketer scam bot telling him he’d won a cruise, or an emergency involving someone he cared about. Turning the cellphone over to check the screen, his insides froze when he saw the caller ID.

_Incoming call: Dick Grayson._

He answered immediately, before his mind had a chance to whip through endless worse-case-scenarios and waste precious time. “Dick? It’s Jason.”

“Jason,” Dick whispered.

“Yeah.” His heart thudded. “Is something wrong?”

“No.” Dick gave a nervous laugh. “It’s stupid, I – never mind.”

“Don’t hang up,” Jason said quickly, alarm bells beginning to ring. “I’m sure it’s not stupid. What happened?”

“Nothing.” Dick’s voice was strained. “I’m fine.”

“You were supposed to patrol with Bruce tonight.” And Jason, stupidly enough, had decided not to go with them, because he didn’t want to deal with Bruce being awkward and trying not to act like his dad and trying to hard to prove that he’d changed; that he cared. So that Jason could be tempted to forgive him.

“I did.”

“Did something happen on patrol?” Stupid, stupid, Jason should have gone with Dick and protected him.

“No.” His brother gulped so loudly that Jason could hear it over the phone. “After.”

Jason blinked in confusion. “After?”

“I was tired on patrol because my stamina isn’t back all the way yet.” Dick’s voice shook. “So Bruce said we could go back to the Cave because he had files to go over anyway, and he was trying not to be angry but he sounded disappointed.”

Jason clenched his jaw. “What happened next?” Because that was bad enough, but not to the point where it would trigger his brother this much.

“He drove into the cave, and, went to the computer to look at the files. I can see him, through the windshield.”

“You’re still in the Batmobile?” Jason felt like he was missing a key piece of information.

“It’s not locked but I can’t open the door.” The panic and shame bled though the phone. “He, Bruce, he slammed the door shut and I should be strong enough to know he didn’t hurt me and he wouldn’t lock me away but I can’t open the door, I can’t make myself, I’m sorry, Jason.”

Fuck.

Dick deserved so much better than that asshole he called a father.

“I’m coming to the Cave right now, Dick,” Jason said, abandoning his project at the table without a second thought. “It’s not your fault. He triggered you.”

“He just forgot,” Dick said immediately; defensively. “He was trying so hard all night, I could tell, he just forgot this.”

Jason locked his apartment door behind him and sprinted towards the garage where he kept his motorcycle. “Well. Good for him for trying to support you the rest of the night.”

“He wasn’t trying to hurt me, he didn’t hurt me,” Dick insisted. “It was an accident.”

“Doesn’t matter if it wasn’t his intention, he still hurt you,” Jason said bitterly. He knew he would say something he’d regret if he stayed on the phone with Dick any longer so he added, “look, I’m at my bike now, I’ll be there in ten minutes. Are you okay if I hang up?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Jay, really.” His voice was wobbly and did not inspire any confidence.

But Dick wasn’t in any physical danger, so it was probably best for him to hang up and focus on driving, Jason reasoned. “I’ll see you soon then.”

“Okay.”

Jason hung up, shoved his phone into his jacket pocket and tried very, very hard not to let the flames of anger licking at the edge of his consciousness catch hold. Blind rage would not do Dick any good. It also wouldn’t solve any of Jason’s own problems, and just leave him numb and empty afterwards.

Weaving around vehicles so he could speed through Gotham far above the speed limit took a decent amount of concentration. But not enough to keep his thoughts from drifting.

Dick had promised to tell Jason if he felt unsafe around Bruce and needed help getting away. Was that why he’d called Jason now? Because he actually, seriously intended to keep his promise? If that was the case Jason was glad, and he felt just a little bit less worried about letting Dick remain close with Bruce. So what if Dick was quick to forgive and accept Bruce, if he was equally willing to call for help when he needed it.

Jason’s tires squealed around a corner and his hair whipped to the side, reminding him that he’d forgotten to wear a helmet.

But then, Dick had also been so quick to defend Bruce’s actions and place the blame on himself. And Jason hated that. He shouldn’t have to feel guilty for being scared when Bruce forgot his biggest trigger. How fucking difficult was it to remember to close a door gently? How many times had they reminded him?

He roared into the Batcave, screeching to a halt at the last possible second.

Batman looked up from a screen, surprised. “Jason?”

“You are not my priority right now,” Jason snarled, dismounting from his bike. “Shut up and wait your fucking turn.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Jason saw Bruce do his squinty glare thing through the bat cowl, but he honestly couldn’t care less. He made a beeline towards the Batmobile, footfalls echoing through the cave.

The windows of the Batmobile were tinted, of course, so that no one outside could catch a glimpse of the inside, so Jason had no way of knowing what state Dick was in before he opened the door. He rapped on the window anyway, and called out “I’m opening the door” as a warning.

Jason swung the door open, revealing Nightwing still in costume but with the half-cowl pushed back off his face. His brother flinched, bringing up his arms to cover his head, and there was something devastating about seeing the strength of the iconic blue Nightwing fingerstripes beside the tangible fear written on Dick’s face, pupils blown wide with terror.

“It’s okay,” Jason said softly, the rage draining out to be replaced by heartache. He knew his brother hated feeling this vulnerable, especially after all the progress he’d made.

Recognition lit up in Dick’s eyes, but still he kept his arms up, frozen and defensive and shaking.

“You’re safe.” Jason held his hand out, glad that he knew what worked to calm down his brother. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I,” Dick said, half frightened and half embarrassed. “I know.”

“I’ve got a big ol’ hug here waiting for you.” Jason tried not to let his own tension seep into his smile. “But not before you’re ready, alright? You get to decide. When you want to get out of the car; if you want a hug.”

Dick slowly eased his arms down, not-so-subtly glancing in Bruce’s direction several times before he finally stepped out of the passenger’s seat. Jason didn’t move and thankfully Bruce didn’t either, and so Dick finally, hesitantly reached out towards Jason. Jason was careful to let his brother touch him first before returning the hug.

“I hate this.” Dick sniffed.

Jason sighed. “I know.”

“Doors don’t usually bother me, anymore,” Dick said desperately. “But it was small, Jason. It was small.”

It was small, inside a vehicle, like it had been inside his cell. And Bruce had gone and slammed the door with his son still inside. “I’m sorry,” Jason said, while glaring at Batman over Dick’s head.

Bruce shifted his stance, which was Batman-Speak for ‘I feel bad for fucking up but I’m too much of an asshole to apologize.’

“Not your fault,” Dick laughed shakily.

“Not your fault either,” Jason said pointedly. This was Bruce’s fault and his fault alone, and Jason was looking forward to giving him a piece of his mind. What the fuck was Bruce thinking, throwing the car door shut like that, knowing full well –

“Can you,” Dick said quietly. “Can you please not argue with him tonight.”

Jason scowled. “It shouldn’t even be an argument. He has no excuse for –“

“I don’t want you screaming at each other because of me.” Dick clenched his fists around the back of Jason’s jacket. “Just not right now. I can’t handle it right now, I just, I want to go home.”

Jason took a deep breath.

It wasn’t fair, that Jason had to pick between confronting Bruce’s actions and giving Dick the comfort he needed. Not that Dick being triggered in the first place was fair either.

But right now, he realized, the anger was a way to numb how vulnerable he felt. A way to drown out how uncertain Jason was that he was handling the situation correctly, that he shouldn’t just take Dick and run and leave Gotham behind forever. He hated feeling stuck and helpless and fearing that Bruce would tear Dick’s mental health to shreds. He hated feeling like a bystander, and he wanted so badly to slip on the comforting armour of his old anger.

Only he wasn’t five years old, small and weak and unable to protect his mom from Willis Todd. Bruce… Bruce wasn’t Willis. No matter how much easier it would have been to lump the two of them together. Bruce, unfortunately, was trying to be a better person.

This wasn’t the time to wade through his complicated feelings towards Bruce, or get selfishly wrapped up in his own defensive anger. Dick needed him, and he’d promised to help him if he ever felt trapped by Bruce. Everything else could wait until later.

“Let’s go,” he said simply, and felt guilty for the way Dick instantly relaxed with relief. He was an awful, stupid, terrible person for hesitating to put his brother’s needs above his compulsion to scream at Bruce.

“I came here on my bike. Do you want to sit behind me on it, or should we steal one of Bruce’s cars?” What would make him feel most secure, was what Jason didn’t ask. Because depending on how shaky his arms still were, he might not feel very safe holding onto Jason on the back of a motorcycle.

“Bike,” Dick replied, words muffled by the way his face pressed against Jason’s chest. “Less closed in.”

Because of course Dick didn’t want to be reminded of being trapped in a small room so soon after the slamming of a door. “Bike it is,” he said agreeably.

Dick relinquished the hug so they could walk, but promptly grabbed Jason’s hand with both of his. He didn’t mind, at all; was used to Dick’s need for safe physical touch by now. If it helped ground his brother and made him feel loved, Jason would gladly hold his hand. Funny how years ago, he wouldn’t have been caught dead being so openly affectionate towards his brother. Years ago he didn’t even _like_ his family. And now here he was, emotions all warm and fuzzy because Dick had called his apartment home. Not Wayne Manor, or his old apartment in Bludhaven that he hadn’t set foot in since Maxwell Dossey fucked him up, or Titans Tower, or anywhere else. He felt safe with Jason; at home.

Jason swung a leg over the seat and felt Dick settle behind him, arms wrapped around his waist. He took one last glance at Batman, whose slightly slumped shoulders betrayed his guilt, and Jason felt a surge of irritation. He sure hadn’t cared how Nightwing felt – hadn’t even noticed how his son was still sitting in the Batmobile, terrified, while his one-track mind focused on the Mission and the goddamn case files – but sure, now he felt guilty, only after noticing the aftermath of his negligence. Did he really even regret his actions? Or did he just hate dealing with the mess of hurt feelings in his wake?

Jason forced himself to turn away from Bruce. He’d deal with that asshole later.

“Ready?” he asked Dick.

Dick started to nod, then added, “no wait,” pulling up the mask to cover his face. “Oops.”

“Happens to the best of us,” Jason smirked. “One time, I forgot to put my domino on under my helmet. What a disaster.”

He felt Dick huff a laugh behind him. “Why the hell do you wear two masks, anyway.”

“For the aesthetic, Mr. Plunging V-neck Disco Suit,” Jason teased.

He could practically hear Dick’s eye roll. “Just drive.”

**Author's Note:**

> I definitely didn't write this because my own dad routinely forgot one of my biggest triggers and made jokes about it! This is definitely not yet another vent fic. Absolutely not!
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment if you’re still enjoying the series, haha. I wasn’t even expecting to write the last oneshot, and here I am with another one, oops.


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